Your Daily Spiritual Click

Picture by Toby Cohen.

I saw it and I loved it. I had to get it as soon as possible. I got it, I liked it for a while then I lost interest. Now I can’t even remember why I ever wanted it.

What is “IT”? Nothing in particular. Actually “IT” is most of the things I buy.

Obviously there is a recurent pattern here. The bad thing about this pattern is that once we are aware of it, most “ITs” are less exciting even in the first phase. The great thing about understanding the pattern is that we start focusing on more significant “ITs”.

So what happens? Why are brief periods of excitement always followed by less enthusiasm for things that once seemed so exciting?

I found a very interesting answer in Rabbi Akiva Tatz book LIVING INSPIRED (which obviously influenced the choice for the name of this site).

Rabbi Tatz explains:

“A person is inspired artificially at the beginning of any phase of life, but to acquire the depth of personality which is demanded of us, Hashem removes the inspiration. The danger is apathy and depression; the challenge is to fight back to the point of inspiration, and in so doing to build it permanently into ones character. [...] A person who understands this secret can begin to enjoy the phase of work; a maturity of understanding makes clear that the first phase was artificial, it is the second phase which yields real developments.

In all life, the challenge of the second phase is to remember the first, to remain inspired by that memory and to use it as a fuel for constant growth.

That is the pattern of life, short-lived inspiration and lengthy battles. The tools needed are determination, perseverance and a stubborn refusal to despair. Personal ordeals which make despair imminent are in reality a fathers hand, withdrawn so that you can learn to walk. And the work of remembering the flash of light when it seems impossible is emuna, faith.”

Obviously this does not apply to material things. Once the excitement is gone, sometimes a few minutes after the purchase, it’s gone forever.

So if not for the excitment provided by material things then what are the lenghty battles worth fighting mentionned by Rabbi Tatz?

I believe it is all about relationships with our loved ones (family and friends) and with Hashem.

I remember reading somewhere that secular Jews who become observant often have a down phase after the excitment of the beginning. At first all the mitzvot are exciting and then (for a short period) they are more of a burden than anything else. Some fight through and become religious Jews, others give up. I happened to be one who gave up 20 years ago.

I never lost my faith and since then inspiration has come back. This time (actually a process over many years) I haven’t jumped in at once but I have decided to go in step by step. Maturity (probably) and books (many of them) are my weapons for the lentghy battles ahead.

This time I can say to Hashem “bring it on!” because I have understood the secret pattern and I won’t give up!

“This is what the Holy One said to Israel: My children, what do I seek from you? I seek no more than that you love one another and honor one another.”
- Tanna d’Bai Eliyahu, medieval rabbinic work

This morning I went to a very interesting class at my son’s school. Counting the Omer was the subject of the class but the discussion digressed to lashon hara (evil tongue). We all know the power of the tongue and how bad things said about a person can have terrible consequences. Once said, the words cannot be taken back. That’s why it is said that ”death and life are in the power of the tongue”. Then the discussion digressed again to the positive effects of the opposite of lashon hara. We discussed how saying nice things to others, always focusing on the positive, looking for the bright side of everyone could have a dramatic positive impact on us.

I strongly believe in positive thinking and in always trying to see the good in others. Obviously sometimes on the spur of the moment I’ll let go a harsh word (especially at my kids) but only to regret it immediately. After all I have so much to be proud of, why even bother with a momentary annoyance?

Words are important, not only for the person we are talking to or about but also for us. What we say is really a reflection of who we are. A truly sad and negative person will always find something negative to say. What this person might not realize is that this is how he/she will be seen by others, sad and negative. Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach taught that “the Lamed Vav (36) Tsadikim are so holy and so real and they’re absolutely your mirror. If you look at them and they look obnoxious it’s because you’re obnoxious, if you look at them and they look ugly gevalt you’re ugly but If you look at them and and you see their beauty and their light it’s because you’re so beautiful…inside”. Before opening our mouth we should always remember that our words will reverberate on us. Who wants a negative reverberation?

May we “be blessed to see nothing but beauty, pride and true longing for the real thing whenever we look into each other’s eyes.”

Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach’s “Schwartzer Wolf” by Rachel Ravitz (Part 1)

Pessah is behind us and I finally have some time to write again. I say “finally” because as one of my Shul acquaintance said last Saturday night “I’m not coming tonight, I’m shuled out for a while” (He eventually came back Sunday morning for more Shul…). I really like to go to Shul yet I understood what he meant as we spent so many hours there last week, mostly saying the same things over and over again. So it got me to wonder… Does Hashem really enjoy listening to the Amidah three times in a row the same morning? Does the Aleinu sound sweet to Hashem’s “ears” even though it was already said twice during the day? Why do we spend so much time in Shul?

Then as usual I found the answer in an amazing book I read last week. In “A letter in the Scroll”, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks explains:

“The synagogue had the most profound political and Spiritual consequences. It turned Jews from a people defined by territory into the rarest of phenomena, a global nation. In effect, the synagogue,wherever it stood, was extraterritorial, much as embassies today. Whether in Babylon or Bialystok, Romania or Rome, whenever Jews entered the house of prayer they were in Israel, speaking its language, remembering its past, dreaming its future. The synagogue was Jerusalem in exile, a country of the mind, the place where prayers of a scattered people met and temporarily reunited them across time and space”.

Yes I think this is why, at least as far as I’m concerned, I enjoy spending so many hours in shul. Although I do not know all the people who are there with me, they are my people and somewhere inside (our mind or our DNA) something makes us look for and enjoy these temporarily reunion with our brethen in our Jerusalem in exile.

As for Hashem? I believe that seeing His people being one again (even if it is temporarily) and focused solely on its relationship with Him definitely outweighs the boredom of 3 daily Aleinu…

Shabbat Shalom!

A few synaguogues from around God’s wide world.

HUNGARY

INDIA

BARBADOS

TUNISIA

POLAND

MOROCCO

NEW YORK

EGYPT

And finally JERUSALEM

I read a lot of books. Usually I read more than one book at the same time. If I have a few hours, I’ll read from one book and then jump to another book. It’s not because the first one was boring but simply when a book is good I don’t want to finish it at once. So I read a few chapters and then let it rest so that I can enjoy it again later. The book I read this week-end was the exception to the rule. I opened it and I couldn’t leave it alone. This book was Holy Brother: Inspiring Stories and Enchanted Tales about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach by Yitta Halberstam Mandelbaum. It is a collection of stories about Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach. People who met him once or who knew him very well talk about their encounters with Reb Shlomo and the impact he had on their lives. It really is an amazing book. Through the testimonies I discovered the true meaning of Kol Israel Arevim Ze Laze (All Of Israel Are Responsible For One Another) and how someone can love fellow Jews so much that he will sacrifice everything to bring a lost soul back to Judaism. He did not help Jews only (there are many unbelievable testimonies of non-Jews most of them homeless people who met Reb Shlomo in New-York) but what he did for lost Jews through music and love really had a strong impact on me while I was reading. I don’t know how yet but reading this book will definitely have a serious impact on my spiritual quest.

Reb Shlomo carlebach teaching yiddishkeit